


but if you close your eyes

by Anny_the_Seal



Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Eldritch, I CANNOT believe I haven't written any prinxiety yet, I hurt him bc I love him okay, M/M, Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, So Much Roman Angst, Torture, Whumptober 2020, anyway uhhh have this, it gets better though I promise, this one's really dark aldlkehkf, yeah you heard that right I'm finally doing it!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anny_the_Seal/pseuds/Anny_the_Seal
Summary: Getting kidnapped and tortured by an eldritch abomination does have its perks. Sometimes.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Implied Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965706
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	1. darkness from above

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I did a thing!
> 
> So yeah. This is my contribution to whumptober! As soon as I saw that the new sanders asides was out (by the way, !!!!!!!) I just,,, had the urge to write some prinxiety. Hope you like it! <3<3<3
> 
> (btw, the title is from "Pompeii" by Bastille)
> 
> Day 10: Blood Loss

Virgil wasn’t expecting his day to go like this.

Then again, when had anyone ever expected to be kidnapped by an eldritch abomination? 

Not him, that was for sure.

And yet.

Here he was, hanging upside-down in a pitch-black cave, miles away from civilization. 

Well, it's not like he had anything to do today.

Or tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if no one noticed he was gone.

Well.

One person would notice he was missing.

Virgil began struggling anew. 

///---///

When Virgil came to the next time he was greeted with curious, bright orange eyes peering at him. He jerked, startled. The eyes moved away, towards a table with- Virgil's eyes widened. Was that a knife? 

The creature picked up some sort of glowing thing, and held it up.

The light hit the creature that had taken him, and he craned his head, trying to see what it looked like.

It was almost like nothing was there.

The light hit the pure _nothingness_ of the thing, and was promptly swallowed up by the darkness. Even the midnight-coal of the cave couldn't compare to the absolute absence of light the creature emitted.

Virgil tested the… ropes? binding him. Having no luck, he sighed and gave up. His head hurt. 

He drifted off to sleep.

///---///

When Virgil woke up for the third time, he was strapped to a table. It wasn’t exactly… preferable- he would have _preferred_ to be at his house, watching Netflix or something- but at least his head wasn’t about to burst from filling up with blood.

The eyes were back, watching him with the same intensity from before. He squirmed under their scrutiny, wishing he had some way to get them to turn away. 

As if the universe was answering his wishes, the eyes turned and made their way over to the table with the knife.

Virgil gulped.

The thing used some sort of… fuckin’- telekinesis or something to lift the knife and bring it over. Virgil squirmed as hard as he could. Maybe if the ropes weren’t strong enough he could wear away at them?

But that would take too long, and Virgil was kind of _running out of time here_. He twisted and writhed, hoping that something would snap and he could get free.

The creature’s eyes narrowed, and Virgil felt a freakishly cold _thing_ slither across his body, rendering him immobile.

He couldn’t keep track of all the loops and twists and knots it made, but when it was done, Virgil couldn’t even move his _fingers._

The creature sat back, evidently pleased with itself. Using that same telekinesis, it lifted the knife up again, and used one of its appendages to put it to Virgil's arm.

Virgil screamed when it first cut through his arm. A fiery burn shot through him, and the blood dripping down his arm that followed was _easily_ the worst thing Virgil had ever experienced in his life.

The creature hummed, cocking its head- or so Virgil assumed from the way its eyes moved.

It moved the knife towards him again, and Virgil began to plead, mindless words falling from his lips at the hope he could stop it from happening again.

The creature stopped in its tracks, and Virgil almost sobbed in relief.

He was still feeling that bit of hope when a second appendage snuck up on him from behind and another burst of pain hit Virgil like a train at full speed.

He wished he was being hit by that train. Anything would be better than this agonizing loop of cut, rinse and repeat.

Virgil screwed his eyes shut, wishing for blackness to take him, the cool numbness that would let him escape. 

He still had his eyes closed when he heard a commotion. It didn't matter to him then, in this haze of foggy suffering. He just wanted the torment to end.

Virgil felt something touch just over his stomach. He had only a split second of realization before there was pain pain painpain _pain_ on his stomach and spreading through him.

It felt like there was a fire inside him, a raging inferno eating at him like acid from the inside.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly he heard a voice, and then he was being untied, though the appendages wriggled and fought back. 

The voice scooped him up, murmuring "I've got you"s and "Shh, it's alright"s. He nuzzled into the oh-so-cool person and felt himself being picked up and moved somewhere where the light was so bright it went through Virgil's eyelids. 

Or maybe that was just the dark cave that he had been in for the last... huh. How long _had_ it been? Hours? Days? _Weeks_? He couldn't keep track.

He was laid down gently with a hand carded through his hair. He sighed happily and nuzzled into it, only to have it pull away. Letting out a low whine, he decided to just ready his head on the ground. He heard footsteps walk away, back to the cave they had walked from.

He registered a brief flash of panic at where the person was going just before his body decided to shut down.

///---///

Virgil _hurt._

He squeezed his eyes shut in pain, trembling. 

He tried to discern the source of it, registering that it came from his stomach.

Then he remembered.

Sitting up with a gasp got him a sharp pain in his stomach. Gritting his teeth, Virgil kept at it, stumbling up to a standing position. He looked back at where he had lain, and retched at the pool of blood that lay there. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took a step forward.

A few steps later, he was at the mouth of the cave. He leaned against it, recovering his breath.

Once he had rested enough that the burn from his injury had subsided, he began to make his way into the cave.

His eyes widened.

Roman (who had rescued him, and would most likely be bragging about it for _days_ \- Virgil internally groaned) had- somehow- tied up the creature with its own appendages, and was now working on trying to figure out how to kill it. Whenever he tried to stab it, his sword would go straight through. 

Virgil scoffed. "It's made of literal _shadows_ , you're not going to kill it like that." He tried for snarky, but softened when Roman's worried face landed on him. "Hey Princey." He offered with a small smile.

"Virgil! You're up!" Roman sprinted the first few feet toward him, then, realizing Virgil still had a gaping hole in him, slowed down and hugged him gently.

Virgil hugged back.

Y'know. For balance.

When Roman tried to pull away, Virgil made a disgruntled noise but retracted his hands enough to grab Roman's arms.

"Are you alright?" Roman asked softly.

"Yeah." Virgil looked away. "Fine."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "The hole in your _bloodstained_ shirt says otherwise." 

Virgil shuffled his feet, wrapping his arms around himself- and immediately wincing. "Well, it's- it's whatever."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no, you need to- Virgil!"

Virgil waved off his concerns, having crumpled to the floor in a particularly harsh burst of pain.

"Yeah, that's it." Roman decided. "Get up, we're going right now to get Logan to patch you up."

Virgil sighed, tilting his head back until it rested against the wall of the cave. "Fine." He groaned, making no move to get up.

Roman rolled his eyes and grabbed him under his arms, pulling him up.

Virgil stumbled as he was his with a wave of dizziness. Black spots danced across his vision, leaving him seeing stars- and not in the good way. 

He swayed, managing to get out a "Catch me." Before he collapsed again.

He felt himself fall into someone's arms, and heard a whispered "I always will." before he passed out.

///---///

When Virgil woke up yet again, he was more comfortable than he had been any other time.

This was a bit overshadowed by the fact that he was strapped down again.

Memories flooded him and he thrashed, trying to get out of his restraints. 

"Hey, hey, hey, shhh, it's okay." A concerned Patton hovered above him. He winced when he saw the red marks Virgil had gotten on his skin from resisting the restraints. 

"We just had to tie you down so that you wouldn't struggle when Logan gave you stitches." Patton smiled besottedly at the mention of Logan and began to undo the ropes binding Virgil. "Here, I'll get these, just _don't_ -" Patton shot a look at Virgil. "Rip the stitches."

As soon as they were gone, Virgil stretched as much as he thought he could get away with. Patton watched him with wary eyes.

Virgil tried for a smirk. "Don't worry, Pat, I'll be fine. I won't rip them out."

Patton didn't look convinced. "If you say so, kiddo."

Suddenly he heard a clatter in the background. Roman came skidding into the room. "Virgil!" He exclaimed. "You're awake."

Patton began inching out of the room. "Guess that's my cue. Take care of yourself!"

"Yep, thanks Pat." Virgil called after him, focusing his attention back on Roman. "Hey Ro." He said, voice soft. 

Roman kissed him, sweet and breathless.

When they finally pulled apart with mussed hair, Roman rested his head on Virgil's forehead.

"Hi." He breathed, staring into Virgil's eyes. "Hey." Virgil said, still a bit floaty from their kiss.

Roman laughed, and kissed him again.

 _Huh_ , Virgil thought, still a bit dazed from kisses. _Maybe he should be kidnapped more often._


	2. oh, where do we begin?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil _really_ hopes Roman will be okay (then again, it seems like he's good at hiding it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slides into the seat next to you with a chapter*  
> So..... How've you been?
> 
>  _sklsjdkslsjjdkd I'm so sorry it's been like a month_ but! I have a new chapter!!! things have been Hectic but I wanted to get some stuff out before I leave for winter break so I'm working on writing those!
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!!!

Virgil was getting sick of being fussed over.

A week after the incident, he was _still_ being constantly coddled by people. It was getting annoying.

...well, he will admit that it might have been.

A _little_ bit cute.

When Roman would pick him up and carry him places.

But that was just _Roman._

Ever since their kiss, Virgil had been, well.

As Logan would put it, and he _had_ , Virgil was "Highly infatuated."

Virgil called him a hypocrite.

But anyway. Roman was _cute_. It wasn't _Virgil's_ fault that Roman would practically get stars in his eyes when he got excited. And the long rants about his newest idea were just so _endearing_ , it wasn't fair.

Sometimes Roman would catch him staring while he did something, painting or drawing or just _talking_. He would get a pretty flush on his face, and try to draw Virgil's attention away from his blush by deflecting with a, "What are you looking at, hot topic?" Virgil would smirk, reply something along the lines of, "Someone cute", and Roman's flush would get even redder.

And _oh, boy_ , Virgil could look at that blush for _days_. 

He had just recently discovered how _often_ he could get Roman to blush- just an offhand compliment would get that gorgeous bloom of color back on his cheeks. 

He had soon realized Roman reacted so much to the compliment because he rarely got them. Virgil… wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

Still, he made it a goal to tell him how _much_ he was worth each day.

(And if Virgil got to see that pretty pink again, that was a plus)

\---///---

When Virgil had walked into Roman's room, he was _not_ expecting to see this.

Roman was sitting cross-legged on his bed, head in his hands. 

Virgil immediately tensed. Was he _crying?_

A step closer confirmed that he was, in fact, crying.

It also got him a creak on the floorboards.

Roman jolted up so fast Virgil was afraid he'd hit his head on the headboard.

"Hey, Virge." Roman tried for nonchalant, shifting from foot to foot. 

"Hey, Ro." Virgil said slowly, trying to figure out _what to do._

Should he get Patton? He was so much better with the whole... _emotions_ thing. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Roman shudder again, attempting to hide his sobs. 

_Fuck it_ , he decided, gingerly perching on the bed next to him. 

"Hey," He said gently, placing a finger under Roman's chin and lifting his face towards him. "You okay?"

Roman looked away, breaking his hold. "I'm fine." He said, obviously not fine. 

Virgil frowned. "Are you sure?"

Roman nodded stiffly. "Completely."

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him. “You’ve been crying.”

Roman looked away. “Yeah, but I- I’m _fine_.”

"Alright then, guess you won't mind if I…" Virgil paused, testing, before calling over his shoulder. "Remus!" 

Roman's eyes went wide. "No, wait-"

"But I thought you were fine?" Virgil blinked innocently. 

Roman growled. "Fine! Fine, I'm not fine. Can you just…-" He gestured towards the door. "Call him off or something?" 

Virgil popped his tongue. "No can do."

Roman stared at him. Virgil stared back. "What?" Roman asked, a little strangled.

Virgil shrugged. "He's either going to a) comfort you, or b) kill the person that made you sad and honestly I'm good with either of those options." 

Roman blinked, fiddled with the blanket.

Virgil tilted his head, confused.

"You really think he'd do that for me?" Roman finally asked.

Virgil stared at him. “What?”

Roman fidgeted a bit. “You think he’d do that for- for _me_?” He said, quieter.

Virgil squinted at him. “Yes? Of course he would do that for you?” 

Roman averted his eyes. “Right. Of course.” 

Virgil bit his lip. “Hey, do you, um, want to- like uh talk about it?” When he saw Roman’s confused look, he added. “Uh, about- like, whatever you were sad about.” 

Roman shrugged, shrinking in on himself. “It’s- it’s no big deal.” 

Virgil’s eyebrows drew together. “Well, if you were _crying_ , it obviously is.” Noticing Roman curl even further into himself, he hurriedly added “But you don’t have to! I just uh, thought it might make you feel better?” 

Roman seemed to relax a bit. “Yeah, I- guess that makes sense.” 

Virgil waited. Roman opened his mouth, closed it. When he opened it again, a soft “I guess I just-” came out- just before Remus came barreling at full speed into the room. 

Virgil was going to scream. “Could you have picked _any other time_?” He growled at Remus. 

Remus shrugged. “Hey, you were the one that called for me. Speaking of...” He flopped down next to both of them. “What was that for?” 

Virgil ignored Roman’s pleading eyes. “Roman was sad, and _just about to tell me why_ when _you_ came busting in.”

Remus cracked his neck with a loud _pop_ that made Virgil flinch. “So, little bro-” He started, cutting off when he saw the tear tracks running down Roman’s face. His brow creased with worry, and he sat up straight on the bed. Turning to Virgil, he said, “You didn’t tell me he was _sad_ sad.”

Virgil blinked at him, confused. “I… did?”

Remus shook his head. “Whatever. What’s wrong?” He said, turning to Roman. 

Roman flinched. “Nothing.” 

Remus glared at him. “What’s. Wrong.”

Roman glared back. “Nothing.”

Virgil’s eyes darted between the two. If things kept going this way, this… was going to take a while. 

Turns out, it only took thirty more seconds for Roman to break down. Collapsing into his brother, his shoulders shook with sobs. 

After a few minutes, Remus deposited Roman into Virgil’s arms. “Here, you take him.” Remus said. “He stinks anyway.” He added, wrinkling his nose.

Roman let out a tiny breath of laughter, and Virgil had never been more grateful for Remus in his life. 

He pretended not to notice when Remus sent a look so full of concern he would usually _never_ admit he had at Roman, before walking out of the room. 

As the door let out a soft click behind Remus, Virgil turned his attention fully on Roman. 

_God_ , was he pretty. 

Wait. No. Virgil shook himself. This was not the time for this.

Roman squirmed a little at how intently Virgil was looking at him. “I’m fine now.” He said with such _little_ conviction Virgil simply gave him a raised eyebrow. “I _am_!” He argued.

Virgil gave him a _look_. “You‘re still crying.” He said, gently swiping a thumb under Roman’s eye. Roman melted into the touch. “Just at least tell me what’s wrong?” Virgil asked softly, tilting Roman’s head to look up at him. 

Roman sighed. Bit his lip. “I just.”

Virgil waited, prompted him when he didn’t continue. “Yes?”

“I just,” Roman looked away. Virgil cradled Roman’s head in both hands, and tilted his head up again so he was looking directly at Virgil. 

“I just,” Roman started again. “Don’t think that.” He paused. “I just don’t think that I’m good enough.” He said, the words leaving him in a rush. 

Virgil tilted his head. “Why not?” He asked, genuinely confused. Roman was _more_ than good enough, he was wonderful and amazing and endearing and- well, the list went on. 

Roman picked at his nails. “I-” He said, voice breaking. “I’m terrible. I’m not even _useful_ , I just- I’m worthless.” 

Virgil disagreed _vehemently_. “You are _not_.”

Roman shrugged. “I _am_. Don’t argue,” He added when Virgil opened his mouth again. “I really am.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Give me a _single_ time when you have _ever_ been worthless.” 

Roman looked away. “I didn’t-” He said, voice breaking. “I didn’t get there in time when you were- you were-” 

He didn’t have to finish his sentence for Virgil to understand it.

“That was _not_ your fault.” Virgil spat, furious. Roman flinched. He continued, softer. “You were the one that _saved_ me. It’s _not_ your fault.”

Roman opened his mouth to argue. “But I-”

Virgil cut him off. “No. No ‘but’s. It was not. Your. Fault.”

“Still. Even if it wasn’t, I’m worthless in almost every other circumstance.” Roman rubbed his eyes.

“And again I say, you are _not_ worthless.” Virgil argued.

Roman… didn’t argue, surprisingly. Virgil figured it was because he was too tired. He’d had a long day. A long _week_ \- or possibly even more, Virgil remembered, guilt churning in his stomach. How much had he not noticed? How many masks had Roman worn?

Virgil sighed. They could talk about that tomorrow. For now, he laid Roman down on the bed, wrapped his arms around him, and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Literally Just Wrote This Today but hopefully it isn't too bad! 
> 
> bye!! <3<3<3
> 
> (oh also also! my tumblr is @annytheseal and if you send me prompts I will love you forever)

**Author's Note:**

> Aldkskcjsdoc thank you for reading, I will now be watching the new sanders asides! Also, _definitely don't_ ask me about the new work I'm writing. I'm _totally_ not exited about it _at all_. And I definitely _won't_ ramble for hours and hours about it. 
> 
> With that said, bye! <3<3<3
> 
> Edit: AAAAAA I HAVE EXACTLY 1600 WORDS sorry I just thought that was cool :)


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